Watch the GLTs on the web camIssue 15, September 10
Travel Paths
The monkeys are still using the low black walnut to cross to and from Holly Hill, using the fence as well when returning to the exhibit. Quite often, they take the ropes to the low black walnut and then jump onto the fence or will jump to the fence straight from the hemlocks. From there they travel down the fence to the fence holly in front of tree 13 or all the way to tree 19 on the edge of Olmsted Walk. Now and then they cross to the Red Light District (the area of trees between the restrooms and the main exhibit), crossing the path both directions where the branches of the hemlocks reach across. This week the family crossed Valley Trail behind tree zero onto Bird Hill. They cannot cross back at the same place and they had to travel around the curve of the hill until they reached the rocks of the waterfall and into the Red Light District. From there, they crossed into the hemlocks in the main exhibit.
New Hangouts
The family spent less time than usual in the bench holly this week, often opting to forage along Holly Hill or settle into the shed holly instead. Their next favorite holly tree is the small one by the fence in front of tree 13. They have made a few trips down there this past week. A few times, the monkeys have foraged in the Red Light District and their newest area explored was the lower portion of Bird Hill along Valley Trail. The majority of the rest of their time is being spent in and around the hemlocks. In the afternoon, the kids and often the whole family tend to play and forage on the ground under the hemlocks. More time is being spent in the nest box as well, with play sessions inside in the afternoon and the GLTs starting to settle into bed around six.
September 3: Magic Pebble
The monkeys were active early, already foraging in the trees behind tree three at 7:15. They continued foraging through the hemlocks until they crossed to Holly Hill over the low black walnut at 7:50. They went straight down to the shed holly and into the trees beyond it, foraging high in the branches. At about 10:10, they moved back toward the bench holly and crossed back to the main exhibit over the low black walnut. They ate from the morning food tray and did acrobatics in the foraging bin, dumping out the substrate that the mealworms were hiding in and practically dumping themselves along with it!
At 10:44, Eduardo led them all back to Holly Hill. They sat in two monkey balls high in the branches of the bench holly for almost two hours. They crossed back to the main exhibit once again at about 1:35, once again taking the low black walnut to the fence and into the hemlocks. They foraged and Laranja sat in the small holly tree to the left of tree four and nursed both babies. At three, they all napped in the hemlocks. By four they were awake and playing.
They all stayed close to the fence, especially Eduardo, but never actually jumped onto it. At 4:30, Moe moved tentatively down the hemlock closest to the Red Light District. He climbed down slowly and moved onto the ground before poking something and running back up the trunk. He did this once more, poking the object of interest a few more times before again bolting up the tree and rejoining his family. Upon further investigation, the object appeared to be a pebble. At 5:25, all the monkeys played and foraged on the ground until they moved back to tree zero at six. They moved in and out of the box for the next hour and at seven, everyone was inside except for Eduardo, who kept watch from his perch outside.
September 4
The family was up before seven and foraged as usual before crossing to Holly Hill at 7:30. Mara lagged behind the family and did not cross for several minutes after them. They all sat in the bench holly for about a half an hour before moving down to and past the shed holly, foraging high in the branches. At 9:45, they moved back toward the bench holly and crossed back to the main exhibit. They ate briefly before moving down the fence toward Olmsted Walk. They moved to the stump behind tree 23, and Laranja and Baby 1 foraged on the top of the bobcat enclosure before settling into tree 17 for some time.
At noon, they crossed over Tamarin Run where the branches of tree 17 run into the branches of a small magnolia on Holly Hill. They moved briefly into the shed holly before climbing toward the bench holly and then crossing to the main exhibit over the low black walnut. They all spent some time in the box, with the kids playing raucously. At 1:30 they moved out and into the hemlocks to forage and play.
At 2:45, Moe jumped onto the fence followed by the other kids one by one. Baby 2 had some trouble making the jump from the tree to the fence and it took him several minutes to make it. Soon after he finally figured it out, the others seemed to bore of the game and jumped back into the hemlocks. Baby 2 sat alone and pulled on the caution tape where it was tied to the fence for a few minutes before looking up and staring at the crowd. He stood up on his back legs and made a whining noise several times before jumping back into the hemlocks himself.
They stayed in the hemlocks from three to six, foraging, resting, playing, and grooming one another. At six, they moved back toward tree zero, climbing in and out of the box for the next hour. At seven, both babies were inside on the top level and everyone else was moving around the tree close by before moving back in a few minutes later and settling in for the night.
September 5: Crossing Interrupted
The GLTs crossed to Holly Hill early, Laranja led them over the low black walnut at just five minutes after seven. They settled into the high branches of the bench holly, mostly out of sight until they moved down to the shed holly at 8:20. They moved into the trees past the shed holly and foraged down close to the path. Eduardo crossed the path into the branches of tree 15, briefly before rejoining his family on Holly Hill.
At 8:45, they were all crossing back to the main exhibit over the low black walnut when something startled them. Laranja, Mara, and Baby 1 ran the rest of the way over the crossing branch while Eduardo, Moe, and Baby 2 ran back to Holly Hill. Laranja, seeming distracted once she crossed, barely ate anything, and stopped into the nest box briefly before. Mara ate for a minute and then jumped onto the fence from the hemlocks. Baby 1 and Laranja soon followed her and they all ran to the low black walnut and crossed to join the others at 9:18.
They sat quietly in the bench holly for half an hour before crossing back to the main exhibit at ten. They all made it over the low black walnut together this time with no interruption. They all ate before once again crossing back to Holly Hill at 10:20. They moved straight down to the shed holly where they were mostly visible in the high branches of the dense trees. At 12:45, the monkeys moved back toward the bench holly and crossed back to the main exhibit for the third time. They foraged, played, and groomed one another in the hemlocks for a few hours.
From four to about five, everyone spent time on the ground playing and foraging under the hemlocks. Mara chased any bird that landed nearby and they all explored the pedestal that is used to hold the scale during weighing. From five to six, they foraged in the hemlocks before moving back to tree zero. At 7, they were all in the box except for Eduardo who occupied his usual perch on the front of the tree.
September 6: Winter Fresh
The family was up and foraging in the hemlocks as usual at 7 a.m. They spent some time chasing squirrels before Eduardo led them to tree nine to forage briefly and then crossed to Holly Hill at 7:40. They spent a few minutes in the bench holly before heading down to the shed holly. All the kids played in the thick branches of the holly for about half an hour.
At 8:30, they moved into the trees lining Olmsted Walk, foraging very high among the branches. They were mostly out of sight but were easily tracked thanks to the babies’ loud vocalizations. Now and then they could be seen foraging and Eduardo seemed to have found a good spot when Moe came over to join. Apparently not willing to share, Eduardo jumped on him and yelled for a few seconds and Moe left him to his food in peace.
It is a sure sign of the coming change of seasons that the squirrels are busily gathering nuts. They were all over the trees this morning and at 10:30 Mara was seen sneaking up on one. When she got close enough, she lunged and grabbed its tail! The squirrel jumped and she held on for a second while it climbed but she was too much weight for it and it dropped. They swung in different directions and the squirrel took off away from the monkeys. Mara went quietly about foraging again as if nothing had happened.
At 10:30, they all crossed back to the main exhibit over the low black walnut. They ate from the food trays and spent a few minutes in the box. Shortly before 11, Eduardo and Laranja left the box and took the ropes to the low black walnut and crossed to Holly Hill. The kids were playing rough and tumble in the box and did not notice the departure of their parents.
Mara was the first out a few minutes later. She climbed up tree five and into the top of the low black walnut and over to join her parents. Baby 2 was out next, calling loudly as he sat on the ropes alone. Moe and Baby 1 finished their wrestling match in the box and joined him. Moe jumped onto the fence from the hemlocks and ran to the hemlocks where he stopped and foraged. The babies looked like they might follow but took the ropes to tree five instead, calling the whole time. They jumped into the small trees between tree five and the fence but still couldn’t find a way to the fence. At this point, Eduardo was watching very intently from the magnolias in front of the bench holly and looked like he might climb to the ground and cross. He took the branch of the low black walnut back over instead at just about the time that Baby 1 jumped to the ground and ran to the fence. He climbed up and jumped onto his fathers back. Baby 2 copied the maneuver, and Moe came over and picked him up. They all crossed to Holly Hill together. They moved high into the bench holly where they groomed and settled into a monkey ball.
Just before one, the GLTs all crossed back to the main exhibit again, taking the low black walnut to the fence. When they passed the kiosk, Mara jumped to the ground and hopped up onto the bench! Baby 1 followed her and they both foraged all over it. Mara found a piece of old gum stuck between the wooden slats and pulled part of it off. She chewed on it and pulled long strands of it from her mouth. (Yuck! Let this be a reminder to everyone to dispose of trash properly.) She jumped down and back onto the fence where Laranja came over to investigate her new treat. Laranja wrestled a bit of it away from her daughter, popped it in her mouth, and promptly spit it out. (She agrees with me.) Mara continued pulling strands from her mouth and stretching them between her hands for a few minutes before following the rest of the family.
Eduardo had spotted two large pileated woodpeckers that were flying around the trees and he followed them up tree eight. The rest of the family trailed behind and they climbed high up into the branches, playing and foraging. At about 1:30, they climbed back down and moved into the main exhibit. They all foraged in the hemlocks and up tree three.
Starting at about 2:30, the kids, Laranja, and eventually Eduardo jumped to the ground to play and forage on and off for the next few hours. As is their pattern recently, they moved back to the box around six and by seven, everyone was inside except for Laranja who made one last trip to the food tray before settling into bed.
September 7: Ring Around the Bench
The monkeys were up early, exploring and foraging through the trees along Valley Trail. They moved back toward the exhibit and crossed to Holly Hill over the low black walnut at 7:40 led by Laranja. They moved toward shed holly, stopping to forage near tree 33. Moe was climbing in a magnolia near Elephant Walk when he slipped and fell, landing in the leaf litter. He was up right away but stayed low in the trees. Eduardo came down to check on him and everyone moved back into the bench holly. They climbed high in the branches of the bench holly, mostly out of sight in the thick branches.
At 9:20 they again moved toward the shed holly. They reached it and moved into the trees past it to forage. At ten, they moved back toward the bench holly once again and crossed to the main exhibit over the low black walnut. They ate from the food trays for a few minutes before crossing back to Holly Hill and moving into the bench holly. They stayed there foraging, playing, and grooming one another until they crossed back to the main exhibit again at 12:41. They stopped into the exhibit briefly before taking a trip down the fence, scent marking signs and their favorite trash can along the way. They settled into the fence holly in front of tree 13, foraging for berries in the vine that grows up through it.
At 2:25, they headed back toward the main exhibit and they all jumped down to investigate the bench. Laranja scent marked the seat and the babies chased each other around it! They made it back into the exhibit by 2:45 and moved into the hemlocks to forage and rest. At 3:05, Eduardo crossed to the Red Light District in the branches over the path. He foraged for three minutes before crossing back. The babies were playing in the hemlocks and took a couple short falls but were no worse for the wear. At 5:40, Moe jumped to the ground a few times. The whole family headed back to the nest box around 6:20. At 7, everyone was inside except for Eduardo who watched from his perch outside.
September 8: Bird Hill!
The monkeys started their day early, crossing to Holly Hill at seven. They foraged in a squirrel’s nest and sat in the bench holly before moving down to the shed holly at 7:45. They moved the holly and foraged high in the trees, mostly out of sight. At ten they moved back toward the bench holly and Laranja, Mara, and Baby 1 crossed to the main exhibit to eat. After a few minutes, they all crossed back over the low black walnut and settled into the bench holly with the rest of the family.
The whole family crossed to the main exhibit together shortly before noon. After eating, they moved back to the trees behind tree zero, near the waterfall. After a few minutes, Laranja found a thin branch that crossed over the walkway and crossed over to Bird Hill. She was quickly followed by the rest of the family. They soon found their way to the holly trees directly next to the waterfall on Bird Hill and spent a few minutes there. They then moved further up the hill into the tops of the trees, about 30 meters or more! It was difficult to see them and nerve-racking since they were frantic to all stay together, but the watchers were doing a great job. After spending just a bit of time in this new area, they started looking for a way back home. Eduardo seemed to be leading the search for a path and Laranja as well, but there were really no good paths to cross.
After two full hours of searching, Laranja took charge and led the family back by crossing over the rockwork of the waterfall and into the Red Light District. Once there, Laranja seemed to recognize the Red Light District and quickly made her way through it and used their typical crossing through the branches over the path into the hemlocks to make it home. They foraged about the main exhibit and played in the hemlocks, resting after their stressful adventure. They headed back toward tree zero at 5:45 and moved in and out of the box for the next hour. At seven, everyone was inside and only Eduardo and Moe were visible resting above the platform.
September 9
The family was foraging in the hemlocks at seven and crossed to Holly Hill half an hour later. They spent a few minutes in the bench holly before heading down to the shed holly. They foraged high in the branches all along Holly Hill, flashing bright gold when the sun hit their fur. They moved into the trees past the Shed Holly, foraging until 9:45 when they settled into the shed holly for an hour. At 10:45, they moved into an alder tree to the left (if you are standing on Tamarin Run) of the shed holly. They foraged there for about an hour, picking berries that grew on vines growing up the center of the tree.
From 11:30 to noon, they also made multiple visits to the ground to forage. Shortly before one, they moved back to the main exhibit, crossing over the low black walnut. The monkeys foraged and played around the main exhibit briefly before heading down the ropes toward tree nine, where they stopped and investigated. Mara and Baby 1 jumped to the ground and played near tree 11. They were all back in the main exhibit, grooming one another at 2:45.
They stayed mostly quiet from three to five, foraging and resting in the hemlocks. At 5:15, Mara began alarm calling continuously for about ten minutes. Eduardo and Moe went to the ground and stayed there, alert and stationary. Laranja began to long call as well but no predators could be seen. They all headed back to tree zero at 5:45 and moved in and out of the box for the rest of the evening. At seven, everyone was inside as usual except for Eduardo who kept watch outside.
